


Thorn Bushes

by Emily_P



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Hook-Up, Oral Sex, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-14 16:28:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5750134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emily_P/pseuds/Emily_P
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Travis and Katie went from wrath-hook ups and angry sex in the tool shed, to actually kind of liking each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Hate You

Travis Stoll understood a few things about girls. First, was the he liked them a lot. The second was some of them were gigantic pains in the ass. And third was that often, for him, these things would over lap. 

And these things would over lap and metastasis into the ever annoying, perpetually dress-wearing, spade-wielding, strawberry freak Katie Gardner. 

The most aggravating thing about her was her ability to piss him off and turn him on at the exact same time. He really couldn’t figure out how she managed to call him an “arrogant asshole” with such eloquence and pure rage with her lips pressed so firmly against his collar bone. And none of this name calling and arguing was the sexy BDSM kind, no, it was the we-are-seriously-managing-to-continue-arguing-as-I-get-to-third-base-and-oh-my-god-does-your-bra-actually-have-strawberries-on-it-could-you-be-more-annoying sort of way. 

As much of pain in the ass as she was, she was hot, and that was pretty much Travis’s standard. After her arrogant asshole comment, he decided he’d had enough her yelling at him. He pushed her back on the table in the tool shed, and got on top her her, moving her lips from his collar bone to his own lips. “Could you try to be less annoying, Gardner?” He asked in between kisses. 

He felt her hand run through his hair, and her legs wrap around his waist. “You’d better make me, Stoll.”

He reached one hand back and pushed the skirt of her dress farther up her thigh. “I would, but your screaming is more annoying than the insulting.” She was a screamer though. He wondered how they hadn’t gotten caught. 

She moved his hand farther up her thigh until he could feel the fabric of her panties. “That’s a fucking lie, and you know it.” She bit his lip. She was right. 

It only took Travis three of these “Would you shut up” “Why don’t you make me?” argument/hook-ups to figure out that the one place Katie wasn’t the most insufferable human being he’d ever met was under all of those fucking skirts. 

He hated dresses. Well, he did, right up until he learned that he could add one more thing to his ever growing list of ways to get her to scream at him. 

He knew exactly when to stop too, and denying Katie Gardner of her well-promised orgasm was possibly the best park he had ever pulled off. 

Oh and she looked so upset too. 

Hooking up with Katie Gardner was the best idea he’d ever had. Even if she had kissed first.


	2. In Your Dreams

Still weak in the knees, Travis was trying hard not to fall over as he put his pants back on. He glanced quickly at Katie, to see if she was laughing at him, or giving him that stupid smug grin she likes to give him after sex. She wasn’t. Instead she seemed be looking up and down at him slowly. He eyes stopped moving and started staring at what Travis could only assume was his ass.

Now, his own smugness took the place of his weak knees. He was able to quickly pull his pants on, before turning to her. His quick movement jolted her out of her trance. “Are you checking me out, Gardner.”

“No!” She answered quickly, but her bright red blush might as well have spelt out “I’m lying and you have a nice ass.”

Travis smirked and walked back over to her. He picked her up by the waist and sat her on the table of the tool shed – their usual hook up spot. “Nope, I saw you. You checked me out.” He pushed her legs apart and stood in between them.

She tilted her head up, as if to say: “how dare you make such an assumption.”

“Why on earth would I check you out, Stoll?”

He pushed her dress strap and bra strap down her arm, from where it had recently been adjusted. He placed a soft kiss on her shoulder. “Come on, don’t play coy,” He kissed closer to her neck, “you have to be attracted to me at least a little.”

Katie moaned as he kissed the nape of her neck. “Well, I guess. But don’t get it in your head that I like you, Stoll.” 

Travis rested his hands on her thighs, still kissing her neck. He took a deep breath, catching the scent of strawberries from her shampoo. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Katie.”


	3. Pavlov's Dog

Travis might have had this coming.

He blamed Connor partially, for telling Chris what was happening between him and Katie.

And, he guessed, he had to blame himself for constantly getting laid, and taking every opportunity to keep his older brother from getting laid (Travis would argue, though, he was doing Chris a favor. That daddy-goat that watches over Clarisse is scary.)

Still, he mostly blamed Chris for the wet and muddy foot prints he left behind himself with every step, and the over whelming scent of lake water.

He probably should have gone back to his cabin, or the shower cabins, but he also knew that the Demeter cabin had a private cabin.

He knocked on the door, hoping Katie was there, instead of one of her siblings. That would be an A+ way to make sure everyone knew they were fucking.

Thankfully, Katie opened the door. Before saying anything, Travis scanned the room, and could tell they were alone.

“Uh… Stoll?” Katie asked, looking him dripping wet on her porch.

“Don’t ask. Shower?” He asked, pushing past her and into her cabin.

“Okay, but you’re going to clean my floor,” She muttered, as he made his way to the bathroom.

Travis stripped his clothes off, not bothering to turn away from her, or closing the door. He was still pretty angry at his brother, and realized his relations with Katie had turned him into a Pavlov’s Dog. Anger was the dinner bell, and the drool was his own arousal. He turned around to look at Katie, who seemed uninterested.

He walked out of the bathroom, still naked. “What? Oh you are not getting in my bed smelling like that Stoll. No way. Nice try.”  
She told him, ignoring him further.

“Then get in the shower with me.”

She was still turned away from him, but he could see his ears go red. “I’ll think about it, now would you get in the shower before one of my siblings is subjected to seeing you …” She gestured vaguely at all of him.

Travis huffed, but walked into the shower. After about a minute, he heard the door open. Travis quickly wiped the steam off of the glass door of the shower, in time to see Katie slip off her dress, and take her hair down. Travis smiled, and opened the door for her.

“Don’t you say a word.” She told him, pressing her lips into his.

“Aw that’s no fun.” He said against her mouth. “I don’t know if I’ll even be able to get it up without calling you a pain –” Suddenly, he felt Katie’s hand against his dick, proving rather quickly, that he could get it up.

“Not this time, Stoll. Just you and me, and sex, right now.”

He wished there was a way to thank Pavlov and his stupid dog for everything he’d done for him.


	4. Going Comando

One thing about Katie that Travis could never really figure out is her strategy for pranking him back. The pranks were few and far between, but always decisive. But also, always random. They always threw him off his game.

The panties was a whole ‘nother ball game though.

They hadn’t hooked up in a few days, the Demeter cabin had been busy harvesting the strawberries, and Travis had been busy pranking and hazing his new brothers and sisters. The babies had to learn how things got done in their cabin.

But after a week and half of nothing between him and Katie, malicious or other wise, Travis was thinking up a new prank for his cabin. He wondered exactly what he’d have to do to get her to do the really dirty stuff.

Lost in thought, he walked in between his cabin and the Dionysus cabin, when there was suddenly a knife at his throat. He was worried for about five seconds before he smelt Katie’s signature strawberry shampoo. “Gardner. What are you do.”

“I tried to freak you.” She told him, letting him go.

Travis laughed. “Good try.”

Katie smiled. “Turn around.” She told him.

“What are you gonna do, Gardner, take me from the – ah.” He felt Katie’s hand in his back pocket, cupping his ass. “I always knew you were a fan of the butt Katie.”

She smirked. “Meet me in the strawberry fields tonight, during the camp fire.” She whispered in his ear, before skipping away.

Travis smiled, before reaching behind him, and pulling out his favorite pair of Katie’s panties. He looked back at her, a watched her walk away, picking up dress just enough to show him, yes, they were the ones she had been wearing. 

Travis put them back in his pocket, smiling, realizing he probably didn’t need an elaborate prank planned for tonight anyway.


	5. Caught

Travis was going to do it, he was actually going to ask Katie out for real, not just a hook up, like a real date. He would even pay. All right, he told himself, you can do it. You two are alone, she’s kissing you. Do it just say: Katie, will you go on a date with me. Do it! Do it now!

“Katie!” He almost yelled. She pulled away from him. Even in the dark of the Big House supply closet, he could see her look confused.

“Usually it take more than kissing for you to scream, Stoll.”

Travis rolled his eyes, “We both know you’re the screamer, Katie,” he took a deep breath, “I was actually wondering if we could talk about something?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, “Can we do it after, because I’m really horny, and you’re–” she paused to kiss him, “really hot.”

Okay, Travis thought, you can wait a half hour, she has to say yes. I mean, you two don’t even argue before sex anymore, and now she’s actually calling you hot. Sex first, date later. Win-win.

He kissed her back, and cupped both hands on her ass, lifting her up against the closet wall. She groaned into his mouth. “Travis, please.” He had barely started to move his hand under her skirt before the door opened.

Being walked in on by Chiron was a couple at Camp Half Blood rite of passage, right up there with getting thrown into the lake. Didn’t make it any less awkward.

“Ah, Miss. Gardner, Mr. Stoll. I believe you both have cabin leader responsibilities that cannot be done from the confines of the closet. I suggest, you both go do them. Separately.” He walked away from them, and Travis put Katie back down.

Katie’s face was bright red, and she looked so embarrassed she might cry. “Hey, Travis said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “it’s not that bad. It’s pretty funny actually.” He didn’t seem to be helping her by talking, so he pulled her into a hug. She seemed stunned at first, and eventually hugged back gently. “And look at the bright side,” he said, “at least it wasn’t Connor. If it was the whole camp would know by now.”

She smiled, the red in her cheeks starting to fade. Travis leaned down and kissed her gently. He tried to mimic the way he once saw Chris kiss Clarisse. He figured if a kiss like that could calm Clarisse down, then it had to calm Katie down. When he pulled away her cheeks were still red.

“We really should get going though.” She said.

“Did you want to hook up somewhere else?” He asked.

She shook her head, “No that really killed the mood. I’ll find you later if I change my mind.” She said.

She looked at him, her brown eyes wide, like she was thinking about what to do next. Travis abandoned the idea of asking her out for today, it wasn’t meant to be.

Katie blinked, as if she had decided what to do next. She leaned up, and placed a gentle kiss on Travis’s cheek. “I’ll see you later, maybe?” She asked.

Travis just smiled before she ran off. When did she stop being so annoying, he wondered.


	6. A Rose by Any Other Name ...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...would have thorns as sharp

A week after the Chiron indecent, Katie finally had the courage to look Travis in the eye long enough for them to get it on. They figured their usual tool shed hook up spot was a safer spot.

Travis picked up Katie and put her on the table, biting her lip as he started to move down her jaw line to her neck. At the same time, his hands started to roam up her skirt. When his hands got to the soft skin of her hips, Travis smiled. He smiled against her collar bone, and he heard Katie laugh softly, having been found out. He ran and hand over her cunt, and he smiled, knowing he was right, and she had gone comando.

“How long?” Travis asked, looking up at her.

“Since noon,” She said, smiling, knowing how much Travis loved this.

Travis kissed her fiercely, “I don’t remember getting this pair, though,” he mumbled against her mouth. he had a nice collection of her panties at this point. She liked to tease him with them.

He felt her smile, “Oh, you have them don’t worry.”

That was too much. Travis quickly moved to take off his pants, not wanting to waist any more time. He leaned her back on the table, kicked off his pants and got on top of her.

“Are we ever going to have sex with me out of one of my dresses?” She asked, as he pushed into her.

He kissed her, “You’re too beautiful in them, why would I take you out of them?”

She blushed under him. “Well then,” she said finding her voice, “how do you want me?”

Travis kissed her, down her jaw, onto her collar bone, thinking about how he wanted her on top of him. He pushed her dress sleeve off her shoulder, thinking about how he wanted her on her knees. He traced kisses along the soft skin of her breast, thinking about making love to her on the beach. He kissed her lips again, and looked at her.

“I want you on a bed,” He told her.

“What?” She asked, thrown off by the utter lack of dirty talk.

“I want you for real. In a bed, where we can take it slow, and I can get you off over,” he kissed her, “and over again.”

She kissed him back. “I didn’t know you were a romantic, Travis”

“Maybe I am. Let me prove it to you.”

She looked down at their hips, where all motion had stopped. “Sure, but we should finish this first.”

Travis nodded, “Yeah, good idea.”

When they finished, Katie only had a few adjustments to make to her clothes so she decided to sit back and watch Travis get dressed.

“So …” She asked, “What did you mean before?”

Travis smiled, buttoning his pants. “I meant, I want to spend a weekend with you. Away from camp, in a bed. Like real people.”

Katie smiled, and walked up behind him. “I would like that but how would be pull it off?”

Travis turned around and smiled. “I’ve got it all planned out, don’t worry about it,”

Katie smiled and kissed him. “Okay, I’ll trust you.”

“So you’re up for it?” Travis asked.

“Yeah, on one condition,” Katie said.

“What?”

Katie took his hands and slid them back under her dress. “I want my panties back.”

Katie didn’t quite know what he did, but a week later she was in an Uber on her way to some hotel to spend a weekend with her arch nemesis. She was in a Batman comic.

Okay, so sex in a bed was much better than sex on a wooden table.

She rolled off of Travis, comfortable being naked, knowing there was no risk of younger siblings or centaurs walking in. Travis moved closer to her, pulling her in close. Seven months of this, and they had never cuddled. Travis didn’t realize how much he wanted to cuddle her until he was.

“This is nice,” Katie said, leaning in to him.

“Yeah,” He kissed the top of her head.

Travis couldn’t stand it. This girl drove him crazy, called him names, was rude to him. And he was rude right back. How the Aphrodite did he end up here?

He had to tell her by the end of the weekend. He had to.

He looked down at Katie and she had fallen asleep on him. This might be the most perfect moment of his life. 

Katie didn’t wear clothes for most of their weekend. “I was wrong, you are much more beautiful out of those dresses.” Travis told her, with her leaned forward on the table, her forearms propping her up, as he slowly moved in an out of her.

“Thanks,” she gasped, as Travis rubbed her clit. Travis placed soft kisses on her back, slowly edging her towards her orgasm.

By Saturday night, Travis thought he might never be able to get it up ever again, he was so tired.

“Wanna see what’s on HBO?” Katie suggested.

Katie might look cuter in pajamas than in any thing else. He didn’t know how she did that.

They enjoyed a few episodes of a few different HBO shows, but mostly they took the time to actually talk to each other. Travis had no idea just how close she was with her sister. Katie never even thought about the idea that Travis might have a mother that isn’t reminiscent of Grendel’s Mother from Beowulf. By ten o’clock she was asleep on him again. He leaned down and kissed her goodnight.

He woke up holding her, and he didn’t think anything would ever be better. When she woke up, she looked at him and turned away immediately.

“What?” Travis asked.

“I’m a mess,” she complained, “my bed head is like a thousand times worse than my sex hair.”

Travis thought her sex hair was just about the hottest thing he’d ever seen, so he absolutely needed to see her bed head.

“No, come on, roll over. If you don’t roll over you’ll miss my two thousand cowlicks.”

Reluctantly, Katie rolled over. Her hair really was in a thousand different directions, her natural curls completely untamed, there was a strand stuck to the side of her mouth in a patch of dried drool. Travis smiled.

“Just as hot as you were yesterday,” He said, trying to sound smooth, and not like he was about to do the most terrifying think he ever attempted.

Asking Katie Gardiner to be his girlfriend.

He’s fought two wars he can do this.

Of course, when she stands up and takes her pants of to get dressed he gets a little distracted.

Because who really sleeps in a thong?

When they were sweaty and spent, Travis was going to roll over and confess, he was ready, he could do this. “We have two hours before check out, do you want to take a shower?”

That wasn’t it.

Shower sex is always nice though.

Travis knew it was now or never as he was packing. “Katie,” He started. She looked up from her bag, and looked at him.

“Yeah?”

“I …” He paused, “I wanted to tell you … uh …” She raised an eye brow, waiting, “I wanted to tell you that I really like you. And not just in the sex way. Like in the I could talk to you for hours kind of way.”

She didn’t say anything.

Travis went on, “We’ve been at this thing for a while, and I just … I don’t want to pretend it’s just sex anymore, because it’s not … for me at least. What do you think?”

She was quiet. She sat on the end of the bed and looked at the floor. “I don’t know … Travis … this a lot.”

“This is a lot? Is this surprising to you? I mean, it was bound to happen to one of us.”

Katie couldn’t place her feelings. She didn’t know what she felt, and she hadn’t for a long time. She was worried if she said yes right now, tomorrow she’d wake up and it’d be different.

“I don’t know, Travis. I don’t think … I don’t think I like you too. I’m sorry. I want to I just…”

“I get it.” He knew he couldn’t force her to like him back, and that she didn’t owe him anything. It still fucking hurt though.

The ride back to camp was silent.

The next week was hell for everyone in the cross fire.

He didn’t want to see her, she wanted time away from him to figure things out.

And this meant they would collided on several occasions. “Watch where you’re going Gardner.” He yelled at her. Before she had a chance to close her legs after the fall, he got a good glace at her underwear. It was a pair she had given him three weeks ago. She took them back.

Their fights started to get out of hand, and soon they were yelling things worse than they ever meant.

The Aphrodite cabin hoped that the lake would wash out some aggression, but it seemed to create more. Verbal fighting, led to a splash fight, which led to a mutual attempt at drowning. Travis, at that point, did the only thing he knew how to do.

He kissed her.

She didn’t kiss back. She pushed away from him. “What the hell, Stoll?” She asked.

Travis rolled his eyes, “Oh don’t play coy. You know exactly what. We yell, we try and kill each other, we fuck, and we do it all again tomorrow. When did that change?”

“You know damn well.” She said, before climbing out of the lake, leaving Travis alone.

He was pretty much ready to spend the rest of the under the dock, pitying himself.


End file.
